Tomorrow
by LNS247
Summary: Set 4 months after 5x10. Kensi returns and is headed to one place, and one place only.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: So apparently I haven't written a fic in oh, almost 10 years! However 5x10 provided a whole host of inspiration (to many!) and so here we are…..**

**Let me know if you think I should continue!**

It felt as if her legs had run a thousand miles. Her chest ached with weariness and her brain was foggy with exhaustion. As she sat in the back of the C130 – exactly the same as the one before, she could only focus on one thing

She was going home.

It had been 4 long months since she had been away. She'd missed the smell of salt in the LA air, she'd missed her favourite coffee shop, the way Callen and Sam bantered with each other, the way she caught Eric staring at Nell sometimes – but most of all, she'd missed him. Deeks. Her partner, her best friend, her…Max.

Kensi turned her head to the right, catching Nate's eye as he sat beside her. "Do you know how he's been?" she asked over the sound of the plane's engines roaring, not needing to be any more specific. Nate knew more than he let on, and she trusted that he wouldn't lie to her.

Nate paused, he understood that he had been sent to meet the team on the way home to help them debrief – a string Hetty pulled no doubt, but this wasn't about the mission they had just been through. Kensi wasn't asking him as her psychologist, she was asking him as her friend how the most important person in her life had been whilst she was away.

"He's….survived. He got on with the job, hasn't been injured, and has been doing his part supporting Nell in the field." He answered. Kensi nodded slowly, sensing there was more to come. Had Nell become his new partner? A wave of jealousy swept over her before she checked herself. He needed someone to watch his back whilst she wasn't there to do it – and she was glad it had been a friend.

"But, he hasn't been sleeping well I don't think. Not as bad as the last time", continued Nate, referring to Deeks reaction post –Sidarov, "but enough that it became a problem. I saw him a few weeks ago and recommended some natural sleeping pills. They aren't strong, more of a relaxant really, but they seemed to give him the kick he needed to get back into a regular sleep pattern."

Kensi rested her head back against the seat and closed her eyes, letting out a breath she didn't know she had been holding. She knew what had caused his lack of sleep because it had done the same to her too. The not knowing, the not speaking, the not seeing each other every day. No sly glances, no subtle touches, no jokes that only the other would understand. Her heart had ached for 4 months as the distance stretched longer and further each day.

But no more. Today she would be back on American soil and able to look into his ocean blue eyes. It sounded stupid but more than anything, she couldn't wait for him to make her laugh.

A voice over the planes announcement system let her know that they were 30 minutes out, and she smiled with anticipation. She knew exactly where she was headed the moment she was free.

* * *

As Nate pulled up outside the familiar apartment building, Kensi's stomach was suddenly a jumble of nerves. What if he didn't feel the same way anymore? What if he was angry at her for not saying goodbye? She has asked him to be patient – what if he had gone back on his promise?

Nate's voice startled her out of her reverie. "He's going to think he woke up on Christmas and his birthday all rolled up in one." She smiled as she turned to face him, reaching out with one hand to open the passenger door. "Thanks for the ride Nate. See you at OPS?"

"Maybe tomorrow. We'll see." He replied. Kensi rolled her eyes "A couple of years in the field and you've gone all dark and mysterious on us?" she joked. "Well, _maybe_, see you tomorrow".

Kensi hopped out of the car with a wince, reminding her of those bruised ribs that were just starting to heal.

As she headed towards the front door of an apartment she knew all too well, she was reminded of a time where she stood in this exact same spot, Cronut in hand, waiting for him to answer the door. She waited for what seemed like hours, before her pride pushed her back to her car and away from his home.

Not tonight. As she reached into the bag she carried across her shoulder, she pulled out her set of keys and selected the shiny silver one, hardly ever used. He'd kill her if he knew she had had a copy made. _"But what if I make you mad and you sneak in to kill me in my sleep?" _But ever since his recovery from the Sidarov case, she had wanted to make sure she could take care of him no matter what.

She slipped the key into the lock and turned it slowly. The whole apartment was in darkness, not unusual for the late hour. She dropped her duffel bag by the door and looked around for a moment. Everything was exactly as it was the night before she left -an empty beer bottle on the coffee table, a pair of sneakers strewn by the door, Monty's dog toys littering the floor. It was strangely comforting to know that life had gone on, things hadn't changed. She could slip in as if she had never been away – she hoped.

Kensi draped her jacket across a chair and removed her shoes so as not to make a sound, then headed towards the partially open door at the end of the hallway. The anticipation of this moment caused her heart to race – and then she saw him and it was as if her heart just stopped.

The moonlight cast an eerie glow across the room, and in its light she could see a head of shaggy blond hair that was as familiar to her as her own. He lay on his stomach, face towards her with the sheet pulled up around him. His arms were hugging his pillow tightly and his nose twitched subtly.

It was then that she felt like she was home.

Moving silently, she stripped off her jeans and walked towards the empty half of the bed. Tomorrow, she would have words with him about not noticing an intruder in your own apartment, but tonight she would just enjoy being next to him.

Slowly, she lifted the edge of the sheet and slipped in beside him, her face resting on the pillow just inches from his. He shifted slightly but did not wake, and Kensi's heart fluttered. Tomorrow, they would be Fern and Max, a boy and a girl who just hang out. Maybe they would go for a drive or go for ice cream, or maybe they would just stay here and ignore the rest of the world around them.

In an indulgent move, Kensi lifted her hand and brushed a strand of hair from his face. The softness of his golden locks brought a smile to her face as she saw his nose twitch under her touch. She breathed a soft sigh of contentment as she closed her eyes and succumbed to the first real night of restful sleep in 4 months.

Tomorrow would be a good day.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Wow! I am absolutly blown away by the response to this! Thank you all for taking the time to read my attempt at writing, and especially to those who reviewed. That'll teach me to wait so long to write anything next time!**

**On with the story...**

Deeks woke as a familiar ball of straggly fur catapulted itself up into the middle of the bed. "Urghh" he groaned, as his eyes slowly opened to see the morning sun streaming through the windows. It was a Sunday, there were no pending cases, and so he resigned himself to a day spent alone. Glancing at his alarm clock beside his bed, he figured he had just enough time to get down to the beach and get in some good surf before the tourists descended.

Wait, where did Monty go? Why wasn't the excitable dog attacking his face like every other morning? And then he heard it.

"Yeah, yeah, I missed you too, Monty". A sleepy voice rasped.

He froze.

He had dreamed of that voice at least a thousand times over the past 4 months, and yet to hear it coming from behind him was better than any dream his mind could come up with. Slowly, he rolled over to face the voice, and he saw her - Kensi. She was in his bed, with Monty climbing all over her like an excitable puppy. She was trying to avoid his frantic licks and as she turned her face away from the crazy dog, their eyes met.

The whole world seemed to pause at that exact moment and he stared at her without moving an inch, his eyes wide in surprise.

"Hi", she whispered. He watched her bite her lower lip as if she was nervous. She looked thinner than the last time he had seen her, and there were dark circles under her eyes that hadn't been there before. His eyes drank her dark, wavy hair strewn across his pillow and her mismatched eyes alive with what he could only describe as anticipation and flashes of joy. All he could think about was how beautiful she was.

Sitting up, he gathered Monty in his arms and rather unceremoniously dropped him onto the floor beside the bed, before turning back to Kensi, as she lay watching his every move. Leaning forward, he reached out an arm and wrapped it around her waist, before lowering his head towards hers. "Hi" he whispered, and he covered her lips with his own. He poured every single feeling he had into that kiss. It was firm and passionate, soft and loving, and told her just how much he had missed her. He had thought about how their next kiss would be over and over, and yet it was so much more than he had imagined.

Kensi couldn't help the moan that escaped her as Deeks lips met hers. He had spoken barely one word to her and yet here she was, a puddle of emotions completely at his mercy.

Suddenly, he pulled away from her and lifted his head. "Wait," he asked incredulously, "you mean you didn't think to, oh I don't know, wake me up!?"

She couldn't help but smirk at the affronted look he had on his face before she reached out and brushed her palm against his stubbled cheek. "I was tired", she answered with a casual shrug of her shoulders.

"You were tired? That's it? 4 months of nothing, no phone calls, no texts, no gazing at my handsome face and you just want to go to sleep? I can't belie…." Deeks stopped mid rant as he noticed Kensi struggling to hold in the giggles that had overcome her.

"Oh, you're messing with me huh?" He asked, that lopsided grin of his appearing on his face. "You really think that's a good idea in the position you are in, Fern?" His hand at her waist started to move up to tickle her sensitive sides. He whispered against the shell of her ear, causing her to shiver. "You trying to start something?" He pounced, rearing up off his elbow to tickle her with both hands, but as he did so she suddenly flinched violently as if in pain.

"What? Oh, god, Kens – what did I do?" he asked frantically, removing his hands from her body immediately and holding them up in surrender.

"Sorry", she answered, letting out a puff of air as if breathing through pain. "Forgot to mention the bruised ribs….I'm fine though. Just give me a second….."Deeks gave her that look, the one that said _"I know you're lying so stop it because I know you better than I know myself"._

He lay back down beside her and shuffled himself forward until they were almost nose to nose. Slowly, he reached out and took her hand in his, lacing their fingers together and resting them on her abdomen. "Tell me", he requested as he held her gaze.

He could see she was faltering, trying to appear strong and tough like the Bad Ass Blye he first knew, but he could tell that she so desperately wanted to trust him, to unburden the weight of the mission onto his strong shoulders.

He waited for her to speak, his fingers gently stroking the back of her hand.

She sighed before speaking. "2 bruised ribs, left side, still healing. Gunshot wound to the right thigh, thankfully just a graze and pretty much healed now. Some nasty cuts and scrapes on my back that got infected, but I was started on medication last week so they aren't so bad now, and a broken finger on my left hand."

He glanced down as she waved her free hand in the air to show the discoloured pinky. He felt sick to his stomach as the words tumbled out of her mouth. Just what exactly had she been through? And who in _hell_ had been watching her back for her to get hurt like that? All he wanted to do was gather her up in his arms and never let her leave his sight again. He closed his eyes for a moment as he pushed the anger back down from where it had appeared. Now was not the time to think about these things – it was the time to revel in the fact that she was here with him, and she wasn't going anywhere ever again if he had anything to do with it. Which he was going to, Hetty be damned.

Deeks opened his eyes again to find Kensi staring at him, nervousness plain to see in her expression. Leaning forward, he placed a gentle kiss in the centre of her forehead. "Well it's a good job you've got nurse Deeks here to bring you back to health", he told her with a cheeky smirk she knew only too well. "And just in case you were wondering, I am excellent at sponge baths".


End file.
